German-Israeli Perspectives on Utopia

German-Israeli Perspectives on Utopia

Between the 4th and 6th of December 2017, a group of authors from Israel and Germany will be gathering for the first major event after the opening of the Utopia Festival. During a closed workshop, the authors from both countries will lead a discussion on the theme of utopia / dystopia. Afterwards we invite the audience to two public podium discussions in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to get to know the authors, to ask questions and participate in the discussion.

The year 2017 marks a myriad of anniversaries world wide, all of which are related to alternative societal visions.

120 years ago, in 1897, Theodor Herzl convened the first Zionist Congress in Basel, where he formulated his vision of a Jewish state, which - as Herzl describes it in his novel Altneuland - includes the equal cohabitation of the Jewish and Arab populations.

Twenty years later, or exactly 100 years ago, the Russian October Revolution took place, which promised an equal and just society for all, but instead led to a totalitarian system.

Also 1967 marks a pivotal point in time for many countries:

during the Six-Day War, Israel gained control of the Jordan's west bank, East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula. In the same year, the student Benno Ohnsorg was shot by a police officer in Berlin at a demonstration. The decision to free the offender led to a radicalization of parts of the student movement.

At the very same year Che Guevara was executed in Bolivia.

Between the 4th and 6th of December 2017, a group of authors from Israel and Germany will be gathering for the first major event after the opening of the Utopia Festival.

During a closed workshop, the authors from both countries will lead a discussion on the theme of utopia / dystopia.

Afterwards we invite the audience to two public podium discussions in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to get to know the authors, to ask questions and participate in the discussion**.